Breaking

Victoria O'Connell created a pet food pantry called Old Mother
Hubbard's Cupboard at the Feeding South Dakota food bank in Rapid
City. O'Connel will also be working in her dog costume to help
promote the pet food pantry. (Ryan Soderlin/Journal staff)

Girl creates pet-food pantry for struggling pet owners

Victoria O'Connell created a pet food pantry called Old Mother
Hubbard's Cupboard at the Feeding South Dakota food bank in Rapid
City. O'Connel will also be working in her dog costume to help
promote the pet food pantry. (Ryan Soderlin/Journal staff)

Victoria O'Connell would be devastated if today's tough economy
left her family unable to feed any of its numerous pets, so she
created a pet-food pantry to help those who are struggling to feed
their own animal friends.

"It just popped into my head," 13-year-old Victoria said of her
community service idea. Old Mother Hubbard's Cupboard, which opened
for donations and distributions last week at the Feeding South
Dakota food pantry at 814 N. Maple Ave., will provide free food for
dogs, cats and other furry and feathered friends. It also earned
Victoria her Silver Award in Girl Scouts. The Silver Award is
O'Connell's next step toward her goal of achieving Girl Scouting's
highest honor.

More than 40 donations of wet and dry pet food - even hamster
feed -- already fill the thrift-store cupboard. Unlike the bare
cupboard of nursery rhyme lore, Victoria plans to keep it
well-stocked with the help of a doggie mascot costume that she will
wear for parades and other promotional events to drum up
donations.

She will be in doggie character as part of KOTA's Care and Share
campaign during the Parade of Lights on Nov. 26, handing out some
of the fliers she designed to increase public awareness for the new
pet pantry. She plans a mascot-naming contest to be held later as a
fundraiser for Old Mother Hubbard's Cupboard. The cocker
spaniel-looking costume was purchased on eBay with help from Pet
Giant, she said.

An animal lover, Victoria visits the Humane Society at least
once a month. "They love me and I love them," she said of
animals.

She was saddened one day as she watched a woman relinquish a cat
that she could no longer afford to keep.

"I saw her crying. It was very sad," she said. More than 7,000
animals arrive at the Humane Society of the Black Hills each year,
and one-third of those are owner-surrendered. Her goal is to
prevent pets from being relinquished simply because people are
having a hard time feeding them.

Owners who are struggling financially can turn to the food bank
for some help, so they won't have to choose between feeding
themselves and feeding their pet, she said.

"There's a guy who comes to the food pantry who brings his dog
along. Now, they can help his dog, too," she said.

Her own family has three rescued dogs: a German shepherd named
Dallas, a standard poodle named Cardi and a Chinese pug named Ming,
plus three rabbits and a few birds.

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Victoria's parents, Jim and Sheri O'Connell, are impressed with
their oldest daughter's initiative, but not surprised by it. The
West Middle School eighth-grader also ran a lemonade stand for the
past three years. She uses the proceeds to buy items for Black
Hills Federal Credit Union's annual school supply drive. "This
year, she raised $200 that she took down there. The back of our
Yukon was filled with them," Jim said.

Anyone wishing to donate to Old Mother Hubbard's Cupboard can
call 718-9590 or drop off items between 10 a.m. and 4 p.m. Monday
through Friday at the food bank.